Nadella and Elop pushed back the Surface Mini because it wasn't ready to compete

While many of us expected that we would be seeing a Surface Mini at yesterday's "small" event from Microsoft, we didn't get that — but that's not to say that there isn't a Surface Mini in Microsoft's research and development labs somewhere. In fact, there was very much one, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and former Nokia CEO and now Microsoft EVP of Devices & Services Stephen Elop made the decision to push back a possible release of the smaller Surface tablet. Their reasoning? It wasn't unique enough.

Bloomberg, citing the perennial "people with knowledge of the decision", says that Nadella and Elop evaluated the Surface Mini and determined that it didn't offer enough to differentiate itself from the competition and "probably wouldn't be a hit." Microsoft's current Surface tablet offerings dominate the Windows tablet space, though by virtue of the larger size of the Surface line they don't compete in the smaller space.

It's interesting that Microsoft opted to go in the opposite direction yesterday, instead unveiling the thinner and larger 12-inch Surface Pro 3 with a powerful Intel Core i7 processor at its core.

All of that isn't to say that the Surface Mini is dead on a Microsoft lab bench. The company knows that smaller tablets are a big market — just look at the success across all platforms of sub-8-inch tablets — but they want to get it right before releasing their own. Panos Panay, Microsoft's Surface chief, said after the event that Microsoft will continue to work on smaller versions of the tablet. But when we'll see such a tablet and what it will look like, we still can't say for certain.

Either way, there is a Surface Mini, and someday it will come. Just not today. Which leaves us with the question: what size tablet is right for you?

Reader comments

Nadella and Elop pushed back the Surface Mini because it wasn't ready to compete

Combine windows RT and windows phone is a great idea but it needs new OS that will have desktop if the computer have keyboard and USB port and just have metro Style if there not such a input device...I think that is Windows 9 in 2015 Apr

The only thing they need to do to differentiate itself is price...if they would have dropped surface mini with a $199 ish price or maybe even lower - it think it would have taken off. MS has to get into competing with google in that price range...just like with the phones...

I feel like they nailed it with the Surface Pro 3, and I understand the reasoning behind no Mini.

A few days ago, I was thinking the perfect setup was a 5" phone, 8" tablet and 13" convertible like the Yoga 2 Pro. This did conflict me as I currently have a 7" tablet that I barely use. What would make an 8" Windows tablet any different?

Now though, I feel like all I need are 2 devices, a Lumia 1520 and a Surface Pro 3. That covers everything I want to do and gives me the high quality hardware I want.

I am keeping my SP2. I need full windows for most of my work related apps and the 10 inch screw is small enough to be comfortably mobile. If I need the big screen, I just plug it into my docking station and work on two 27 inch monitors.

To be honest, I think they pushed it back partially because they didn't want the same thing that happened to Surface RT. That is, an outdated Tegra3 when it really needed the Tegra4 and other Android tabs as well as the iPad4 had significantly better CPUs. I'll guess they were going to use a Snapdragon 801 on the mini. There isn't anything wrong with it, but it's not class leading anymore and I suspect they can get the 805 for the fall and they probably don't want to release an updated product in just a few more months.

Plus, this device also needs a Pureview camera. I am still convinced that could be useful in a mini tablet.

Finally, I think the N-trig/Wacom debate comes down to the Mini. I actually think N-Trig was chosen for the mini, and thus to have it non-confusing, they used the same pen on both. Bettery battery life also led to this decision too, IMO.

I don't think Microsoft can bring anything new to the small tablet market.....it's already swamped with devices, most of which are pretty damn good machines. It's a terribly overcrowded marketplace and one which Microsoft would do well to avoid. People have been talking about the Ipad killer since the Ipad was launched. That's not going to be achieved by lauching a cute little mini tablet running RT.....

I personally think the rise of the phablet will kill the small tablet market. I use my 1520 to do my banking, shopping, play games, watch videos, tv and movies, take notes, listen to music, email....everything. Microsoft would be competing with its own phablet device if they bring out a surface mini.

Microsoft need to focus on the next big thing.....finding a genuine replacement to the desktop and laptop environment, and I think the Surface 3 is a huge step in the right direction....bigger, thinner, lighter, versatile and more portable....thats the route to follow....

You're right, the sub 8" market is already going down. In fact, tablets in general aren't the PC killers some thought them to be. Tablets have temporarily hit PC sales, but looks like phablets are going to permanently crush sub 10" tablet sales especially in Asia. In mature markets the issue is more "do i really need a tablet?" And "do I really get value from upgrading my iPad 2?"

Very true. Asia are phablet mad and I can understand why. A well built phablet is an incredibly handy machine to have around, whereas a 8" or less tablet is basically a device with no market strategy. It's like it no longer has a place in the field.

As for the rest of the world, the last thing we need is another hastily thought out device. You go to any PC or retail store in Europe or the USA and there are dozens of devices to choose from.

The Surface 3 has a far better chance of capturing the imagination of potential buyers than another mini tablet.

Jeez, criticize them for releasing something early be for it's ready, criticize them for delaying the release of something not ready, MS can't win with some of you. They did the right thing, good for them.
The Pro3 is a beautiful machine, by the way, design is awesome.

I guess this is a personal observation, but I can see why they've killed the mini. They've already got a mini tablet out there....its called the 1520. Frankly, I haven't picked up my iPad mini since I got my 1520 back in December.

Wise decision. Microsoft wants to sell to more than just MS fanboys so releasing an RT device which would be more expensive than its competitors and immediately be blasted for a lack of apps makes no sense.

Can't say I'm not disappointed there wasn't a Surface Mini unveiled yesterday. But seeing as I also couldn't picture a RT device being compelling enough on its own I understand.
They really need to differentiate Windows RT and make some features to make it a 'value add' OS rather than a less value one that can't install the massive library of legacy programs.
I would like to see them really push the Stylus with it and add RT specific features that aren't available elsewhere, like the trick OneNote features on the SP3 (but more!).

My thought was also that they maybe got pushback from their OEM partners. Most if not all their major partners are making mini tablets and maybe MS doesn't want to continue to further send mixed messages regarding their relationship. The Surface Pro 3 is a bit more of a unique proposition compared to what the Mini would be.

Plus, MS still needs touch office and their ebook service up and running. If you're gonna fight the Kindle, you gotta go after it's bread and butter and currently MS hasn't built that ecosystem yet.

I think MS made the right choice here. Yes some people on this site might have bought an 8inch RT tablet. But overall I just don't think RT tablets can sell well and MS knows that. I sold 4 of my friends on the DVP8 specifically because it could play civilization 5 from their steam library. Do they actually do that all the time? Heck no. The point is, people want the flexibility. At the moment there just is no value proposition to RT over regular W8 paired with Intel atom.

actually google does the same and it is doing well. that is not a bad strategy. but MSFT is always late which is why it has the perception of doing it badly. android was a POS crap (still is) but it was early therefore what was a bad attempt at competing was in fact a great thing to do when you consider how it went after that.

What I would find really cool is a phone/mini tablet that can do a few things when it's used as a phone/tablet (i don't care if its limited to touch apps in this mode), but when I plug in a monitor and keyboard, I want the same device to run a full desktop.

Google isn't touching this, apple isn't. Conical is definitely aiming for this but who knows when, and I can't tell what Microsoft is aiming for, but a Surface Mini Pro sounds like it might do it.

I'm also a day 1 owner of the Pro 1 and I must say, I'm really tempted to get a Pro 3, but the awesome thing is, I don't need it, because the Pro 1 is still more than good enough for what I do (video montage, photo editing). It was such a revolution when it came out that after all this time it's still much better than anything the competition has to offer and buying the new one isn't a necessity. I'm really happy with my purchase! I'm glad to see they're working on the Surface Mini with the same idea of starting a revolution instead of just releasing a product that is just good enough.

I think they are already too late, like a couple of years late. That's why they can't release something as lame as an iPad Mini and hope to sell millions, they need to offer us something more. If they offer something more they can't be too late since they'll be the first to offer whatever they'll be offering. Like the Surface Pro, although they were already too late in the tablet business, what they offered was such a revolution that 2-3 years later none of the competitors has managed to do something as good as the Pro.

I don't necessarily see the point in having a 8" tablet running full windows. Actually this size is perfect for RT. But I don't know ... they should then offer something like the surface pros running full windows with a more affordable pricing that can compete with notebooks and normal laptops, not ultrabooks

What am I missing? 7" tablets are a consumption device. Make it the Xbox portable. You will have developers lining up to make games. This gives you games on Surface, PC's, etc. It would not only sell but help fill out the ecosystem.

They have a name that would sell well without much effort and they don't seem to want to use it.

My idea was instead of bundling the Kinect, bundle a mobile 6in or 7in device with every Xbox One Console.
Making sure the mobile device plays every Arcade Xbox One title (at least).
Ok I know, I know .....i dream BIG.

If you thought consumers were pissed when the Kinect was bundled at a higher price point, how mad do you think they'd be if this was the case. At least the Kinect directly tied in with the system. Also, the cost would probably be prohibitive.

Since we're brain storming ;) There is a very vocal group who want a "X-Device", just build it already Microsoft. Look at Samsung, they build every variant of a phone or tablet.
I know I would love to buy a mobile game device that has similar Xbox controls and not just a touch screen.

They don't want to be like Apple, releasing different sizes of the same product every year, they want to offer us more than the competition. What's wrong with that? I just hope it doesn't take too long for them to release it, but I'm happy that they don't just want to start using the Surface name to try to sell us any lame product like the competition does. Now that Microsoft and Nokia are working together, I can't wait to see what new products they have to offer!

I dont believe their reasoning only because none of the Surface line has been successful at least not at launch. If the price was lower and took advantage of unique features then maybe.i think the mini would have been a good product that could have easily been a $200ish price device to get them into more hands while they sold the bigger premium forms

The problem is that people are still afraid of Microsoft. When people think of Microsoft they think of the blue screen of death, which is stupid, but it's still what people think. If they were Apple, they could release any size of lame tablet and they would sell millions, but since people are still afraid to buy from Microsoft, they need to release a product that is more than what the competition has to offer if they want to be successful. And anyway, as a customer I'm happy to see that they really care about us and they want to offer us something new, something different, unlike Apple who release the same product in different size every year trying to convince us that the new one is a revolution. The Surface Pro was a revolution (and the first pro still hasn't been surpassed by the competition), and I hope the Surface Mini will be too.

What? If I'm nit mistaken, they didn't say it needed to be a hit, they said they needed it to be unique. If you compare the Surface Pro with anything the competition (Apple and Google) is offering, it's a freaking' revolution! Never would I have thought in the last few years that I would be able anytime soon to completely stop using my big desktop computer and use a tablet instead! Tablets were for games and movies, and then came the first Pro. I bought the first Pro when it came out and haven't done any serious work on my real computer ever since. I do photo editing and video montage, all on the Surface. My desktop, which I had bought only a year before, is now only used as a server in my house to stream movies. Also to have the ability to use a Wacom pen with it is a dream come true, but it's also something that I had been discussing with my graphic artist friends for many years, but seeing the size (huge) and the price (3000$) of the Wacoms that come with a monitor, we thought we wouldn't see that in an affordable portable device anytime soon. The Surface Pro would be a hit of people didn't still associate Microsoft with the blue screen of death. And think it's great that they are waiting for the Surface mini, like the Surface Pro, they want to offer us a product that isn't just good enough but that is more than what other companies are offering.

From the article: "determined that it didn't offer enough to differentiate itself from the competition and "probably wouldn't be a hit.""

At any rate, no tablet or Surface Pro will ever replace a normal PC. Not to mention it's a terrible deal. I can built a better PC for half the price an i5 Surface Pro 3 costs. And the Surface Pro isn't aimed at replacing a desktop PC. It's aimed, at best, at replacing a laptop.

Will that PC be portable? Not, unless you're building your own laptop. You're one of the most negative people in this forum who disguises himself as a windows supporter but you're probably not in which case you should just join the i-tribe or Android central crew.

I find DJCBS's comments very worthwhile. I might not always agree with what he says, but at least his comments are well thought out, and he's not just a blind fan boy who thinks the competition is evil and that MS can do no wrong. I think it's pitiful that you'd ask someone with a thoughtful, divergent viewpoint to leave. Viva la groupthink!

Yeah, but people who don't hang out on this website don't build their own PC's and they certainly don't build devices like the Surface Pro 1, 2, or 3. It is not a terrible deal no matter how many times you post that you don't like the prices of the Surface devices. They are premeium products and Microsoft is never going to produce devices that undercut the OEMs.

It's not aimed at replacing a PC, but it's still good enough to do just that. When I bought it I thought I'd use it as a tablet and a laptop for when on the road, but I found out it's fast enough to do whatever I want to do with it (video montage, photo editing), and it's smaller and more silent than my big desktop, and I can still plug multiple USB ports in it (with an adaptor) and plug it into a bigger monitor. So who cares if it wasn't meant to replace a desktop, it's good enough to do it, and it might be more expensive than a useless iPad, but if it can replace a desktop, a laptop, and a tablet and a Wacom, it's really not that expensive! Actually not only isn't it that expensive, but it's a freakin' good deal!

Why don't people read? I said "Surface Pro". Like it or not, from the sales of all the Surfaces, the Surface Pro isn't selling that well. The majority of sales are being done by the Surface RT and Surface 2. Check WPCentral's article published yesterday.

And it doesn't matter how much YOU like it. This is business. What matters is what the majority likes and what the majority wants to buy. And so far, the majority doesn't care for the Surface Pro, which you can see by looking at the numbers.

Not only that, the Surface Pro is an has always been an overpriced product. Which leads people to look for other solutions. And there's plently of other solutions in the market.

I have no doubt that they'll keep improving the Surface Pro. But that will only last as long as Microsoft shareholders are willing to burn money on the development of a product line that isn't selling that well.

That price tag is the one thing that keeps me from pulling the trigger on a Surface Pro. Heck, I wish OEMs would start incorporating more of AMDs tech into their tablets. Those ought to be inexpensive and still good (great if you're talking about graphics processing).

I was looking forward to a Mini... Having a Surface RT and a Dell XPS 18", the Surface Pro 3 just doesn't fit in for me. But it's me, I'm not the masses. A Mini would have been the perfect note taking device. I will have to consider other option from Asus, Dell or Lenovo

Where is the idea that you stated written in stone, it even paper for that matter???.....
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Dude says that's what he wants, so who are we to disagree with that.. Just let him have his dream..
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Anyways, we shouldn't bring that iDroid "a tablet is supposed to be this, or that" way of looking at things into the Windows platform idea of actually doing things.. No one size fits all mindsets here because this is not Apple..... And, just to make sure MS doesn't change into Apple you'd better hope that they make a 7"tablet, and a 17" tablet❗❗❗❗ ..lol❕

It's not "written in stone" that a Surface can't be 17" but then again, neither is it that a WP can't be 17".

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that to date, Surface is a particular MS brand that represents well made, mid to high end hardware for the tablet/ultraportable market. It could extend to phones too but there is nothing but rumor to suggest it will (I hope it does). A 16"-17" isn't likely to include a snap-on keyboard and would be transportable but not portable so would it even be a Surface then?

True. but it wasn't really a brand...more of an experiment with the technology. MS needed a name to brand of what we now know as Surface and I think that big ass screen table wasn't doing much as one so they just used it. Is that big 60" screen still referred to as Surface by MS?

If that's what you want then that's what you want.. And, I'm sure others would like that too... I hate it when some of these guys have to crush someone's dreams as if it were to happen then they would be affected by it...
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If you mention a feature, screen size, product, or idea you would like to see there's always that idiot who has to step in disagree, and ask why...
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JUST LET PEOPLE WANT WHAT THEY WANT❗❗❗ NO NEED TO WISH FOR THEM TO NOT GET WHAT THEY WANT.. IF THEY GET IT THEN MORE POWER TO THEM, IF NOT THEN LIFE MOVES ON, BUT QUIT BEING RUDE AND SELFISH❗❗

I don't know if you were referring to me, but I wasn't "crushing the guy's dreams" by any means. I was merely pointing out that such a large device is not what Surface is about. Surface is about combining ultraportables with tablets and a 16"-17" device is just too large for either. Do you disagree?

Not just you in particular, and I sorry if I cam off rude. I couldn't worded it differently..
But, yeah I'd have to disagree.. We shouldn't get that stuck in our heads. After all, Surface is going to be offered in various sizes and a 8" surface would definitely conflict with your belief.. Your statement might apply to the new SP3 but I don't think it's MS's intent for us to view the entire lineup as such... And, if they haven't discontinued RT what I'm saying is obvious.

I'm not sure anyone knows for sure...including MS. I think the Surface brand is evolving and MS probably doesn't even know where it's going. Hell...they backed off of the 8" Surface at the last minute. Don't you think that to date that a good deal of Surface branding is about ultra-portability? The SP2 wasn't selling as well as expected in good part because of the weight and thickness (battery too of course) which SP3 fixes which would seem to further this point. Personally, I hope that we see a crush of continually improving Surface devices in a wide range of sizes and uses.

They might just be waiting for Gemini to make the surface mini more functional than other mini devices. Isn't Gemini slated for a September preview? If they rush a product, it's going to get sub par reviews like surface 1 did and the crybaby crews in this forum would start dropping water!

The trick is, I was rooting for RT. I bought a Surface RT. I had a Windows Phone and was looking forward to a future convergence of Windows on ARM. What happened? We got x86 8" tablets instead and... and I found I preferred the x86 experience. Even simple things like downloading and unpacking an archive is a drastically better experience on x86 (where it's handled by the OS) than RT (where you have to download one of several frustrating/buggy apps from the Windows Store to try, and possibly fail, to extract the files). I purchase a lot of content from BigFinish.com so this is a big deal for me. So had they at least announced they had an RT 8" tablet on the horizon, I would have waited for it and stuck with RT. But now that I have a DV8P, I'm probably going to ditch RT entirely. If they were worried a Surface Mini wouldn't have differentiated itself enough for the Surface name, they could have incentivised Nokia or another OEM to release a simple RT 8" tablet as a stop gap. If they want RT to die, why don't they just say so? RT can't survive on 10" tablets alone. It's a shame. Or maybe it's not, maybe it's better to learn how superior x86 Windows really is over RT, even for the simple/common tasks that I previously believed they'd be approximately equal at. Because I truly thought RT would meet all my needs. And I've only learned otherwise due to a lack of sub-10" options in RT.

Hehe, true! :) Even if a Mini was coming soonish, it might be best to have a separate event for it.

On another phone blog someone speculated or suggested that perhaps a good route for MS now is to pick up one of Nokia's tablet designs (I would imagine they would have a "Lumia Mini" RT tablet design on the shelf) and keep the "consumer" segment focus there until they have a really strong Surface Mini product ready.

My guess is that a mini is going to launch eventually because there is always that segment of the market who wants a consumption device and $799 is just not going to cut it. As a parent, I could part with 300/400 dollars to get my kid in the game. If the mini could launce when WP and RT merges, that would be very compelling story.

I was holding out for this as well since theres no 2520 in my country & importing one from us isnt going to workout seeing as our lte spectrum requirements dont match any of those & ofcource the storage offered by the nokia tablet sucks

I'm actually pleased that it was cancelled. That tells me that Microsoft recognizes that they only get 1 first attempt to launch the mini and it has to be different as opposed to "me too". I firmly believe that they will launch one when they believe they have something special to offer. I don't believe that launching with RT is the right move. A mini should launch when RT/Windows phone is merged.

Man I wish I could up vote this. Well said, why bring out something thats not going to wow and let it flounder. Apple to its credit could crap in a bucket and people for now will buy it without question. The same doesnt apply to Microsoft, after many misteps over the years people hesitant and will pounce if it doesnt just blow them away.